Awards for June 2007

For: Middle and high school youth who have made outstanding service contributions through volunteering.

By: Prudential Financial and the National Association of Secondary School Principals

Winners Include: Taylor Bell, 18, Little Rock, Ark., who created a soccer league for special-needs children; Kendall Ciesemier, 14, Wheaton, Ill., who founded an organization that has raised over $80,000 for AIDS orphans in Africa; Kelydra Welcker, 18, Parkersburg, W.Va., who invented a way to purify drinking water in her community; Heather Wilder, 13, Las Vegas, who wrote a series of pamphlets for foster children based on her experiences in the foster care system.

For: Individuals who have volunteered 4,000 hours or more in their lifetimes.

By: USA Freedom Corps

Winners Include: Linda Uehara, Mililani, Hawaii, a retired educator who serves on the Juvenile Justice State Advisory Council and co-facilitates Girls Street Smart, a life-skills program for Asian and Pacific Island teenagers; Jonathan Wu, Fremont, Calif., a high school senior who created a science fair for elementary school students in his community; Kay Hiramine, Colorado Springs, Colo., CEO of Private Sector Consulting and founder of Humanitarian International Services Group, an organization that mobilizes resources in emergencies.

Winners Include: The People’s Voice Winner in the Associations category is “Dream it. Do it.” (www.dreamit-doit.com), which helps young people with career goals in the manufacturing sector. The website offers a career calculator and quiz, and connects youth to events and resources to help them meet their goals.

For: Students, teachers, or historical organizations that have partnered with schools to help preserve local history.

By: Save Our History, a project of The History Channel

Winners include: Student of the Year Kaitlyn McConnell, 18, of Niangua, Mo., who writes a weekly column for a local newspaper about historic sites in the area; the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site in Laramie, Wyo., which partnered with a local middle school to excavate an icehouse behind the prison.

Hard labor: Youths excavate the Wyoming Territorial Prison, a project that won a Save Our History award.

Mildred Robbins Leet Award for the Advancement of Women

For: InterAction member agencies that have worked for greater gender equality.

By: InterAction

Winners: Population Action International, an advocacy group that supports population, family planning and reproductive health programs; Women’s Edge Coalition, which supports the economic advancement of poor women and girls worldwide.

For: Elementary and secondary public schools that have collaborated with local groups to serve as “a center of community that demonstrates innovative design ideas and helps promote student achievement.”

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